According to units, each week, Garver calls and incorporates community managers on pricing decisions by confirming the accuracy of the program data and adjusts any part of the program that property managers think are not competitive with others’ rates, or not appropriate for the current market place.

Dave Woodward, CEO of the Laramar Group, attributes their high occupancy rates (high 90s across the board!) to the use of both the LRO system and a pricing manager. “You can’t buy the software, flip a switch and assume it will work,” he says. “We’ve heard of companies that take this black-and-white approach, but it doesn’t allow on-site community staff to have ownership of the system. We’ve taken an approach to empower the field and let them have a say in the pricing.”

Garver echoes Woodward saying a successful implementation requires buy-in from property staff. “We didn’t want property managers left out of the process – they are experts who live in this every day,” she says.”

Read on about Garver and Laramar’s integration of the site staff in their expanding corporate initiative to stay on top in their markets at the following link: Priceless Input

The November issue of UNITS magazine will feature an article profiling the Laramar Group and how it uses a pricing manager whose daily duties are entirely devoted to managing Laramar’s revenue-management software. By using a pricing manager to incorporate feedback between Laramar’s property managers into the revenue-management program, they are able to maximize the value of their revenue management system.

According to the article, Laramar’s pricing manager includes the community managers on pricing decisions on a weekly basis, confirming the accuracy of the program’s generated data. This overrides any aspects of the program that the property managers think are out of line with competitors’ rates or not appropriate for the current market place. When they decide to override the program based on observations of the property managers, the appropriate pricing adjustments can be made within 30 minutes.

For the entire article, check out the November issue of UNITS magazine arriving to National Apartment Association members and UNITS subscribers in mid-November.